A Little Bit of Hunting and Gathering

A few fun tidbits gathered up earlier this week because a week without junk is like a week without sunshine..

Some of these finds are from an Estate Sale stop.  I NEVER find mushrooms and was delighted with these.  I really don't know why I want them but I just do - you know??

I am sworn off glass unless it is something special and thought this qualified.  I have this same plate in white milk glass but have never seen it in black.  You can click bigger to see the buttons.

Gold gimpe tassel fringe for the Esty shop and the Japan pottery dish is going to hold succulents on the patio - assuming it ever cools off so I feel motivated to do something outdoors.  I had a long to-do list for the week and this global climate change came along and derailed me.  NOT a fan of 90+ weather and especially not triple digits!!

I adore the watercolor roses and I'm on the hunt for an appropriate frame for it.  Things like this make me wonder what I miss when I'm not at the right place at the right time at The Bins and reinforce my addiction to the hunt!

An adorable pair of Mr. and Mrs. pillow cases.  I love the old MOP buttons on these cards with the foil behind them.  I always wonder about the reason for the foil.  These would be sweet framed.
Keep cool!

Truth in Blogging

 Some of you have lovely potting benches surrounded by pots of blossoms.  We have a spot in the very back of the yard that we semi-fondly call "the barnyard".  We have a "farm" (garden), a "lake" (fishpond) and a "woods walk" (tree tunnel), so a barnyard is fitting.  This is the business end of the yard.  Compost, garden tools, utility trailer, storage shed and, yes, a potting bench.

 There is another matching window on the other side of the door but it has been overgrown by the shrubs.  We don't eat at this picnic table because the apple tree rains down debris.  It is more of an outdoor work space for sawing, potting, etc.  On the left, out of camera, is the utility trailer.

 I don't have any pots of flowers back here.  It is way too hard to drag the hose back here for watering.  I painted the sunflowers on the doors about 15 years ago and I'm tired of them and keep thinking I need to do something different but that's about as far as it gets.  A project for another day.

 I built the potting bench from pallet wood about 10 years ago.  The eve on the shed extends over it nearly 2 feet so, for the most part, it stays dry.  The wood tool box in the back was gifted from my MIL after her husband passed away.  The slanted front lifts up and there is a removable tray inside.  It needs a pretty paint job.  Another project for another day!

 Since I don't have flowers back here, I add a few colorful accents.  All of the pottery pieces were damaged when I got them but suitable for garden decor where the squirrels like to party.

 I got the JOY sign many years ago at the VOA.  Good golly I am missing that place!

 The canisters were all found with missing lids but work great for holding odds and ends out here.

 I re-organized and got rid of a huge amount of pots and just kept the ones I actually thought I would use.

 Go ahead and squint your eyes so you don't see the compost and wheel barrow.  This enormous old apple tree was just a tiny thing when we moved here 36 years ago.  It was about 8" in diameter back then and I remember making a little circle of bricks around the base and being so happy to have my own yard.  My boys spent countless hours climbing this tree.

That woman who lives here needs to wash that shed door!  This is looking back from the barnyard toward the woods walk.  Duck your head just a little as you go past the secret garden and through the tree tunnel to the pergola.
Maybe I'll find a cement cow one of these days.  That would make me do a happy dance!

Friday Lunch Stop and Some Questions

 The lunch stop picking have been pretty slim this week but Friday was a good day.  The aluminum colander in the back will replace a porcelain enamel one I use for button sorting and cleaning.  It is my third one.  Oh oh.

 Some sweet Christmas finds.  The angels are made in Japan and have the original Sprouse-Reitz 59 cent price tags.  I miss dime stores.

 I don't find indents very often so was delighted with this box of ornaments.  I am getting quite an accumulation of Christmas inventory for the booth now.  I need some advice from you seasoned pros. Do you switch out existing inventory to make room for holidays and then bring it back after?  How long do you leave things in your booth before you decide they are not going to sell and just donate them?  My real estate is very limited and I can't use it up with things that aren't moving so I'm thinking about that.  I have only had the space less than a month and sales have been good so far but still...  I know everything won't sell.

This is a modern repro Santos doll but I have been wanting one for ages so I'll take it!  It will be fun decorating it.  She must be a swimmer with those shoulders - LOL!

The Girls of Summer

 I mentioned earlier this Spring that I had a plan to at least decorate my kitchen hutch for the seasons.  These are my Girls of Summer.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.  EVERY room in my house is low light - lol!  Why is that, you might wonder...  Well probably not but I'll tell you anyway.  I live in a baby-boomer 1947 tract home that was built in response to the end of WWII and all the returning troops.  To keep them affordable they did things like no eaves on the outside and small windows. I'll take those scrimps since they kept the crown moldings, cove ceiling and pecan hardwood floors.

 Picking have been slim so far this week but I picked up these cuties today.

I also visited Nina and Joe and scored to bags of buttons.  I can't wait to see what I find!

This Bad Blogger

 This bad blogger has been so busy cleaning up the mess from the launch at the antique mall that I have let over a week go by without posting.  I'm sure it is no surprise that I have still been junking so here are a few recent finds.  Everything in this picture was a lunch stop at The Bins.  I adore those little Putz trees and GLASS GARLAND.  I never find that and sure didn't expect it to turn up there of all places!

 I made another hat stand because the three I took to the antique mall sold already.  They all sold on the same day so it will be interesting to find out if it was a fluke. I have another in waiting on my reasonably cleared off workbench.

 I opened up a cardboard box at The Bins and gasped when I found these 1930s patterns inside.

These little treasures were a recent find at Division Street Antiques (aka Nina and Joe's).  The needle book and buttons will be staying with me.  The buckles will eventually be included in inspiration kits.
Our weather has finally cooled of to more normal Portland Summer temps, thank goodness!  I hope you are all enjoying your Summer and finding great junk!

Shelter me

I adore old magazine and found these Brighter Homes issues recently.  They are from 1929 and 1930.  Proof positive that shelter magazines are not a modern phenomenon.  I would not want to live in that time period but I sure wouldn't mind visiting there and doing a little shopping!

I want everything in this picture, including her dress!

Okay, and this one, too.  Well, maybe not the ice box.  I'm sort of addicted to electricity.

Love the elephant bookend, at least the one on this end.

Oh, those porch supports and the swing-out casement windows!

I'll take a couple of each of these, too, please.

From what I can gather, I think this magazine is something Glidden paint put out as advertising.  Each is only about 20 pages. I looked up Brighter Homes and a chain of stores does exist with that name but it seems like they didn't start until around 1960 so I don't know if there is any connection.

That shower curtain!

All of these old prints were tucked inside the pages of the magazines.  I love that someone saved them. Thanks to The Grapes of Wrath and The Waltons, I picture the Depression Era as sepia colored and dusty.  I stand corrected!

A Milestone

Today marks our 40th wedding anniversary.
July 5, 1975 - July 5, 2015

1975... a time it was and what a time it was!

• Gerald Ford was President of the United States
• The unemployment rate in the US reached 9.2% and the United States was plunged in to recession
• The average cost of a new house was $39,300.00
• The average annual income wad was $14,100.00
• A gallon of gas cost 44 cents
• The average cost of a new car was $4,250.00
• The Vietnam Was ended as Communist forces took Saigon and South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally. I had marched against entering Laos. Juergen had his lottery number and was the next group to be called when the draft ended, dodging the bullet, literally.
• The "Women's-Lib movement saw the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts passed but it was another 25 years before we began to see the decline of the "good old boys club"
• Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed BASIC for the Altair 8800
• The name "Micro-soft" (microcomputer software) and Microsoft became a registered trademark
• Sony introduced Betamax videotape and Matusushita/JVC introduced VHS
• Atari home video games were released
• Jaws, The Towering Inferno and Young Frankenstein were released
• Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC with George Carlin hosting
• Bruce Springstein  released his third album, Born To Run

As in most long marriages, there have been years that flew by in the blink of an eye and years that seems as if they would never end.  After 40 years, there is still no one I would rather hang out with!

The "Age of Aquarius" Benediction at the end of our ceremony is something I have tried to live:

Go placidly among the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.  As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all people.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly and listen to others, they too have their story.  Be yourself.  Especially do not feign affection.  Neither be cynical about love, for in the face all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass... nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.  But to not distress yourself with imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.  Beyond wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.  You are a child of the universe, no less than the stars and the trees... the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God and in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.

Happy Birthday America!

Wishing you all a fun and safe 4th of July!

Happy Birthday America!